Various Artists – I Said No Doctors!

Great ingredients, Poor Recipe

Compilations remain the trickiest album structure by a wide margin. Listeners must decide between judging the album as a whole, seeing if the compilation feeds individual tracks thematically into each other or if it’s sloppily mashed together into poorly mixed musical casserole. On the compilation I Said No Doctors! listeners will find far more of the latter, however many of the tracks are too stunning to truly pass the project up as a whole.

The first song “The Mist” by electronic legends Silver Apples demands the use of quality headphones or booming speakers, its atmospheric whispers and whirrs having the capability to rooms near to bursting while its bass thrum threatens to resonate the listeners rib cage apart. Silver Apples still have a uniquely gifted touch at the boards and is able to craft a fitting opening track for any compilation. Unfortunately things do not continue in this phenomenal direction as the album takes a sharp left into Dan Deacon’s track “Opal Toad Segment.” The track is almost exclusively a piano being played at blinding speeds and with absurd technicality. Sadly beyond the technical nature the piece fails to create any sort of narrative or atmosphere and instead opts to only be a display for how fast a piano can be played. The third track “Kosciuszko” bounces back into the groove of things by employing static bursts and a persistent alarm-like whirr above some guitars. The drums are crisp and the synthesizer noise cuts through the air like sharpened scissors, piercing the ears of the listener. The track is a welcome refrain from the maddening technicality of the previous cut and serves as a welcome rest. “And I Mean It” tiptoes the line between being obnoxious and exciting, far too often overly noisy and high pitched, sounding like the computer room on an alien ship in a ’60s film, but when its static bursts fly in the track is hard to disagree with. If the track had opted for a more aggressive noise tone it may have come out sounding more complete.

Despite all that comes before it, the main purpose of this album are its hulking center tracks. The first of these three is the immaculate “Awkward Silences I Have Known” a song that is so shimmering and beautiful that its seven minute runtime may pass you altogether without even being noticed. The entire track is light and airy and seems to almost float despite its decent length. The slow guitar notes and plucks punctuate a droning hum that melts the listener into the object of their rest, damning or welcoming them to stay for eternity. The next track “The Inconvertible Tree” is a far cry from its predecessor, opting to use the jazzier elements of experimental as opposed to its more ambient nature. It’s entirety is populated by buzzing horns and shrill instrumentation, often imitating the interior of a wasps hive, though the track does implement its own moments of silence between squeegee squeaks and stretching strings. The track is much more an exercise in music concrete than it is a traditional song by any means, making it an unorthodox but strangely compelling portion of the compilations centerpiece. The final of these tracks is “String Noise” and it takes much the same approach as its predecessor by employing frantic stringed sections separated by brief moments of silence. Unfortunately the atmosphere never truly pulls through on this track, leaving more of a confused look on the face of the listener instead of the panicked frenzy often left by fast strings, closing out the juicy center of the album on a sour note.

I Said No Doctors! is then the victim of its own construction. A wild mix of challenging and innovative music that in no way runs together or forms any sort of cohesive project. The tracks flit about between transcendent and unlistenable, filling all the gaps in between. Regardless of its flaws, it deserves a listen by any fan of experimental as its contents will surely contain something enjoyable for nearly any listener daring enough to make the plunge, but those expecting to like each track may find themselves hard pressed to do so.